Which is the HIT version of The Edsels' RAMA LAMA DING DONG? Help!!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steve Hoffman, Dec 11, 2004.

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  1. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    I've had the version with the yellow label (Musictone? Too lazy to dig it out) since I was a kid. Got it as a 35 cent cut out in one of the dept. stores.

    A few days ago I happened across the version on DUB International which looks OOOOLD!

    I paid a buck for it mainly because of the label, gold and black. Well, I played it today and low and behold it's a DIFFERENT version of the song. Same arrangement but it sounds older to me.

    Anyone know which version was the actual hit?

    Thanks, much!
     
  2. Greatest Hits

    Greatest Hits Just Another Compilation

    I think the version that appears on the (crappy sounding) OLDIES BUT GOODIES Vol. 2 CD is the hit version.
     
  3. indy mike

    indy mike Forum Pest

  4. indy mike

    indy mike Forum Pest

    Do you have disc that handy? I think they mention who tracks were licensed from...
     
  5. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

  6. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    The version on the Ace CD should be the hit(Twin 700) version. But the sonics make me glad I have that '61 45, it has the high end you won't find on CD for this one...

    :ed:
     
  7. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    That's TIM NEELY, and Bishop consults his vast 45 and CD collection....which is how he can post the above with such insolent confidence.

    :ed:
     
  8. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    ...how about the version on the Rhino's Doo Wop Box?
     
  9. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    The version on DUB is obviously the 1958 recording. This is the one that FLOPPED when released. When the song was "rediscovered" in 1961 the group obviously re-recorded it and this is the HIT version (but the DUB recording is the first). I like them both but the DUB recording has this wacky middle part that is much tamer on the HIT from 1961...
     
  10. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Tim Neely. :wave:
     
  11. indy mike

    indy mike Forum Pest

    Heck - we got things covered!
     
  12. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    No, the original Dub 45 and the Twin 45 are identical, according to any source I've read. But a bootleg Dub 45 was issued in '61 using an alternate take recorded at the same date, and this may have been used for other pressings, since this one also is listed in books as having appeared on Musictone and Winley.

    The Ace CD liner notes get into that, and so do a few Doo-Wop tomes. The alt. take was never meant to be issued; just happened that Hy Weiss put out the Dub original on Twin, had the clout to push it on radio, and so the 1958 version became the 1961 hit.

    Or so they say...

    :ed:
     
  13. indy mike

    indy mike Forum Pest

    Clout - and a fistful o' fifties... :D
     
  14. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Geez, now I'm confused. No way is this an alternate recording from the SAME DATE. Different microphone placement and feel between the two versions totally.

    Oh well, it's not really important enough to worry about.
     
  15. indy mike

    indy mike Forum Pest

    Whoa - this place has a rep for going to the extreme for the arcane - no sense in leaving this riddle unsolved!
     
  16. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    Okay here's what the notes to GOLDEN AGE VOL. 4 have to say on the subject:

    "The original Dub release quickly died and a disillusioned (Foster Johnson, owner of Dub), eventually sold all his stock and master tapes to a cut price wholesaler in Hollywood.

    During the Doo-Wop revival of 1960-61, a group of collectors rediscovered the record and persuaded Hy Weiss of Old Town Records to reissue it on his Twin label. (When the record broke nationally, the wholesaler in California repressed it on a phony Dub label inadvertantly using a different, slightly faster take, creating a bootleg with a difference). However, Weiss had cornered the market and "Rama Lama" rose to No. 21 on the Twin label in June 1961."


    Now, here's what Joel Whitburn notes for his Top Pop 45's entry for the song:

    "original version released on Dub 2843 as "Lama Rama Ding Dong" and "Rama Lama Ding Dong""

    Interesting, huh? :D

    Now, we have a possibility that Whitburn has a phony Dub 45 pressed in '61 with the alternate take..OR, the liner notes are wrong, and the Dub version was the original and the Twin the alternate take. BUT....AFAIK, the group was long gone well before 1961, so if we have two versions, it may be that they were recorded at different times, but within the same time frame as the original Dub release, and not at the same session(this we can now surmise is the case, thanks to Steve's expertise). Here's where we need Dr. Tim, as I don't have the original(or even a fake)Dub 45 for reference(loved the Twin 45 so much never felt the urge...)

    :ed:
     
  17. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    I have FJ-2843 as Rama Lama Ding Dong...

    Could be the unauthorized 1961 version. At any rate, it's a neat sounding version..
     
  18. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    No doubt! And I'd love to hear it(and for all I know, it's on some other vinyl, or a reissue CD, right under my snout and I don't realize it!)....

    The 2843 suggests the original 45, but, if the story of the bootleg version is true, then that matrix number might mean nothing, other than the bootleg uses that number. A pro like John Tefteller would know, though, he's the best, and would know the real Dub 45 from the fake, for sure.

    :ed:
     
  19. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    End of mystery! Just got an e-mail back from Mr. Tefteller, who was kind enough to take the time to(once again)put up with me:

    "Hi Ed,

    The original issue of the Dub, with the Arkansas address on it, is the exact
    same take as the Twin. That original issue had two different titles with
    Lama Rama Ding Dong being the very first issue and then it changed shortly
    thereafter to Rama Lama Ding Dong--so the Lama ones are the true first
    pressings.

    The record was re-issued/bootlegged in 1961 with a California address on it
    and that is the one that has the alternate take on it.

    I hope this helps.



    I would say it does.....:edthumbs:


    :ed:
     
  20. indy mike

    indy mike Forum Pest

    Mystery solved!
     
  21. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Ed,

    Thanks. Mine has the California address. Good, I can play it on my RCA-Victor 45 player without any guilt.

    Tell John T. that I've never forgiven him for selling the 78 RPM Sun Record of Sonny Burgess "We Gonna Boogie" out from under me. :wave:
     

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  22. Greatest Hits

    Greatest Hits Just Another Compilation

    Hey, I see Nipper's reflection!
     
  23. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    Did he do that? Wow! :laugh: :eek:.....

    I'll remember that for next time...:D


    :ed:
     
  24. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    He didn't do it with malice; he probably didn't realize the intensity of my desire (like my ex-girlfriend..) :)
     
  25. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    Agreed: John is as honorable a dealer/collector/fan as you will find on this earth, and that is no exaggeration. Many years ago, I really wanted a true 1st press of "Rock Around The Clock" after living with the 2nd(charted)pressing since I was a kid. He sold me a very nice copy for $40, and I've never forgotten it. He checked his vast stock and found a strong VG++ one for me...:love:

    BTW, if you vinyl hounds want to drool and haven't seen this, check it out:

    http://www.tefteller.com/html/45s_page1.html#

    I could gaze at those for hours......rapturously......


    :ed:
     
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